THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, demanded the judicial probe of the letter written by a justice of the Supreme Court, Justice John Inyang Okoro, to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
The justice had, in the letter claimed that the former governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transport, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Umana Umana, attempted to bribe and sway justice against the PDP candidates in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states, respectively.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, by its national publicity secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the party said that the call became necessary as it viewed “the allegation as grievous, dangerous, criminal and unhealthy for our democracy and the rule of law.”
According to the PDP, the information by Justice Okoro must not be swept under the carpet, like previous petitions and the report of the Rivers State judiciary commission of inquiry that allegedly revealed misappropriations of funds by Amaechi as Rivers State governor.
The party declared that the letter, dated October 17, 2016, had confirmed its earlier position that the war on corruption by the APC was actually the war against the opposition.
“We wish His Lordship, Justice Inyang Okoro and the CJN/chairman of NJC did not keep quite over this bribery attempt since February 2016 until now. It appears that the public would have remained in the dark without the prompting of the DSS harassments and invasion of his home.
“This allegation against Amaechi has again vindicated us that there are so many corrupt leaders and members of the APC, but due to party affiliation and their huge contributions to the Buhari Presidency, they are seen as ‘sacred cows’ and shielded from prosecution.
“We wish to, therefore, reiterate that the recent arbitrary and Gestapo style of arrest, detention and release of justices is a charade targeted at gagging the judiciary to sway justice in favour of the president and his party, the APC.
“Finally, we call on President Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, investigate this weighty allegation and prosecute the perpetrators. We once again call on the judiciary to remain neutral and fearless, despite this orchestrated threat to our democracy,” the PDP said.